Published: 2025-10-29

Thousands of young people welcomed to this year's ‘Öppet hus’

NEWS On 5 November, Umeå University will be filled with around 4,000 young people who want to know everything about what it is like to study at a university. It is time for the annual Öppet hus (Open House) event, when buses carrying upper secondary school students and others interested in studying, as well as teachers and study and career counsellors, roll in from Ljusdal to Kalix.

Text: Jakob Mjöbring

Tomadj Karimi, Communications officer at Umeå University and responsible for the event. Photo: Hans Karlsson

"The main point is, of course, to showcase all the different programmes available at Umeå University, but there are also a number of other popular activities and things to do, such as guided tours of the Umeå Arts Campus, the Iksu training facility and the neighbouring Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The public housing company Bostaden will be there to talk about how to solve housing issues, and study and career counsellors and other staff will also receive their own professional development training," says Tomadj Karimi, Communications officer at Umeå University and responsible for the event.

In the days leading up to the event, the organisers begin setting up at venues such as Universum and Lindelhallen to make room for stands, signs and other equipment, and on Wednesday, 5 November, visitors begin arriving.

Visitors from Umeå start the day with a session in Aula Nordica at 9:30 a.m., while those arriving by bus receive information on the bus and go to an information session as soon as they arrive at Campus Umeå. A total of 140 information sessions will be held on everything from the Master of Science in Pharmacy to the Theology Programme and everything in between, until everyone returns home after the last session, which starts at 2.30 p.m.

All visitors now have the smart digital map Mazemap to help them. The schedule on the website umu.se has links to Mazemap, which shows where the various information sessions and stands are located, but there is also other information, such as the nearest café, toilet or lift.

Good to know

· High school students are transported in 40 buses from Ljusdal, Sundsvall, Härnösand, Kramfors, Örnsköldsvik, Sollefteå, Östersund, Strömsund, Vilhelmina, Storuman, Lycksele, Skellefteå, Piteå, Älvsbyn, Luleå, Boden and Kalix.

· All those arriving by bus will receive information about the day on the bus.

· For those coming from Umeå and the surrounding area, the day will start with an introductory session at 9.30 a.m.

· Everyone is welcome; you do not need to register in advance.

· Visitors will be greeted by a mobile-friendly website where they can bookmark their favourite lectures and a special map app with all the buildings and rooms marked so that everyone can find their way around.

· The information sessions are half an hour long and take place every hour, with the last session starting at 2.30 p.m.

· There is plenty of time between sessions to visit the Student Life Fair in Lindellhallen and Universum, and talk to students and teachers.

· The fair is open between 10 a.m. and 3.30 p.m.